A classic story. Good and evil, fear, revenge, love, infidelity, jealousy, magic and spells. A long story so take your time…
He is a rich man but very unhappy because his name is No. Has everything he wants, just no children. One day he looks at the bananas in his orchard and says, 'That's the first fruit of the season. They are beautiful. I take them to the temple; then surely the gods will answer my prayer.'
The following year, Nee became the father of a daughter. The year after that, again and again, and after twelve years he had twelve daughters. The years follow each other and Nee becomes more unhappy than ever. His servants leave, his income becomes less and less and Nee goes bankrupt. Devilishly, he takes his daughters to the forest and leaves them there to die.
Twelve girls wander through the woods. Fortunately, the gods have compassion and protect them from a thousand and one dangers. Finally they lead them to the home of the man-eater Sônthâman (1). The old witch-cannibal takes the form of a human and receives the startled girls. Reassures them and finally enjoys their trust; she takes them into her home and cares for them with devotion.
Years pass. They live together and happily. But one day the eldest sister enters the house and shouts to her sisters: 'Listen, we have to save ourselves, and immediately!' The second sister shouts 'What do you mean?' and the third sister 'What happened?' Then the eldest sister shouts 'Our benefactor is a cannibal!' But then all the girls shout 'Can't. Stop that nonsense. Don't tease us like that!'
The First Sister “I tell you, I'm not kidding.” The tenth sister 'If she really was a cannibal she would have eaten us long ago.' The ninth sister says 'She is so good and sweet to us.' And the first sister again 'OK, but come and see for yourself…' Everyone rushes to the garden and on the ground, in a secluded corner, they find, under dead leaves, a heap of bones and human skin, remains of a horrible banquet …
They become very scared but can control their feelings and pay close attention to the behavior of their benefactress. All her actions fill them with fear and one day they can no longer contain themselves and flee into the forest. They are grateful to her but can no longer bear this life.
But the ladies are missed...
The old cannibal, who loves the human girls, cannot bear their absence and goes looking for them. Frightened, the girls hide wherever possible: behind wild elephants who ask them not to betray their hiding place. The elephants feel sorry for these poor human creatures and answer unclearly to the cannibal's questions. The girls are momentarily saved and hurry on their sudden flight.
But the cannibal is hot on their heels. Desperate, they hide with bears, tigers, horses and bulls and hide those animals in their shelter and send the cannibal in the wrong direction. Tired and bitter, she gives up, returns to her home and continues to live in silence and loneliness. She never forgives the girls who responded so wrongly to her goodness and motherly care.
Banyan tree, strangler fig, ficus benghalensis
The twelve sisters keep walking, thinking they are being chased. They arrive at the borders of the city of Kutara Nakhorn (2) where the king is called Rathasit. At that moment the king sends his deformed slave, Nang Khom, the hunchback, to the lake to fetch water for his bath. She rests under a large banyan tree, hears muffled laughter and is amazed when she sees the goddesses. That moves her and she runs to the palace to tell her lord about that strange thing on the shore of the lake!
Nang Khom's discovery amuses the king and he asks a minister to investigate; and he discovers the twelve daughters of Nee! When the king hears their story he feels sorry; they are allowed to live in the palace and after a while he asks all twelve of them to marry him. The people are happy with so many beautiful queens and celebrate for twelve days and nights. The good news also spreads to neighboring countries and many people come to Kutara Nakhorn to admire the queens. The city is doing well and everyone is happy.
The cannibal's revenge...
One day, after hunting, the king finds a lady of startling beauty under a tree. But this young lady is none other than the cannibal Sônthâman. She has heard of the adventures of her adopted daughters and swears revenge. She uses her magical charm and strikes the king as if by magic. He asks her if she is married yet and invites her to become his queen…
Since the arrival of that strange woman, Nee's children have no peace anymore. Everything they do annoys the king, who can no longer tolerate their presence, and he drives them out of his palace. But Sônthâman is not satisfied with this gesture and looks for another way to punish them. She says she is terribly ill and everything the doctors prescribe doesn't help. Startled, the king says he will do anything to heal her. And Sônthâman then tells him 'My exalted husband, my healing does not have to be expensive but I would rather die a hundred times than ask you that.'
She does not want to burden the king's mind, but yields to his questions. "Your Majesty, this is necessary for my healing: I want in my medicine the eyes of the twelve sisters who lived here." And she bursts into tears.
The king is shocked but because he has promised he cannot refuse. Full of self-reproach, he orders the twelve sisters to be taken to the sick person and retreats to his rooms, dejected and deeply unhappy with himself. Sônthâman is overjoyed to see the twelve sisters with him; she dances on her bed and plucks out the eyes of the unfortunate creatures.
Only the youngest, whom she likes the most, loses only one eye and, pleased with her 'softness', she has the girls taken to a closed cave in the forest. Their eyes turn to her daughter, Kang Ri, who rules the city of Khocha Pura Nakhorn (2).
When the twelve unfortunate queens are chased away, they turn out to be pregnant. But despite their misery, they survive and give birth to twelve children who eat them one by one. Except for the twelfth sister; she does not eat her share of human flesh, but roasts it and stores it carefully. And when her son is born, she does not kill him but gives the roast meat to her eleven sisters and thus contributes her share to the community.
With a lot of misery and suffering, she manages to keep her son alive in that hidden cave. She keeps his presence a secret from her older sisters. The latter do not complain because the little boy is allowed to leave the cave and thus saves himself by looking for food for his twelve mothers. This way their lives are less miserable and some happiness and hope comes back into their hearts.
(To be continued)
Translated, abridged and edited by Erik Kuijpers. Title: Les yeux des douze reines, in Thai More information. Source: Contes et Légendes de Thaïlande; 1954. Author Jit-Kasem Sibunruang (จิตรเกษม Sibunruang), 1915-2011.
Ad 1: About Sônthâman, also Sonthaman, in Thai สนธมาร, elsewhere Sanda Mara, the witch-cannibal, I read that she is obsessed with beauty and with the eyes of the twelve sisters. On the site of Kasetsart University, Bangkok, there is a PDF file (with pictures) almost entirely in Thai that you can download and open. Search Google for “ความสวยความงาม” ในการ์ตูนเรื่องนางสิบสอง-พ
Ad 2: Kutara Nakhorn, sanskrit Kutara Nagara, probably in India, Uttar Pradesh. King Rathasit, sanskrit Radasiddhi; the first name occurs in Thailand, the second cannot be found. Khocha Pura Nakhorn, sanskrit Gaja Pura Nagara, probably also in Uttar Pradesh.
Too bad, but still a typical devil; the name is of course นางสิบสอง, naang sibsong.
And that can be translated as “(the) twelve ladies”. Thanks again for this upcoming series of stories dear Erik.